Faction
Overview Endless Space features 8 playable Factions, each with their own History and Unique Traits and Bonuses. The Sheredyn Faction is a special Faction skin for the United Empire Faction that is available in the Special Emperor Edition of the game. The Automatons Faction was added in the "Rise of the Automatons" free add-on. It is a Custom Faction of which the lore and background was created by panzer, a member of the Endless Space community. Players are allowed to create their own Custom Factions based on the built-in Factions. Amoeba * Home Planet Type: Ocean * Diplomatic Alignment: Good * Gameplay: Exploration, Diplomacy * Main Victory Type: Diplomatic/Military Description "A highly evolved form of a lowly species, these colorful beings come from an ocean world. Evolving slowly over millions of years with plenty of time to philosophize, it is not surprising that the Amoeba are diplomatic, cultural, and intellectual. Wise and urbane, they have an exceptionally high 'emotional intelligence' and are unusually open to other alien and intelligent species. Their goal is to travel, meet, and learn, though their relatively defenseless natural form has bred into them the need to turn all situations to their advantage, and to be in control of their destiny. Though the Amoeba do not feel that their nature is to dominate and conquer, they can be viewed as warriors whose weapons are diplomacy and trade." Traits Automatons * Planet Type: Jungle * Diplomatic Alignment: Good * Gameplay: Peaceful, Isolationist * Main Victory Type: Economic/Diplomatic Description "The Automatons were created by a long dead civilization known as the Reyans who perished many millennia ago due to the gradual self-destruction of their world. Decades of uncontrolled industrialization and technologies that relied on a highly toxic underground fuel caused irreversible damage to the ecosystem and atmosphere of their planet. Realizing that they were doomed, the Reyans attempted to build a massive fleet of migration ships to escape their planet, but most of the ships either exploded on launch, or stalled in the atmosphere and fell to the ground. The Reyans despaired… and so they decided to leave a legacy in the form of one of their greatest technological achievements, clockwork beings. Having a very old and proud history of clockwork, the Reyans had achieved the maximum potential of the technology in their creation of massive clockwork men to which they gifted all the traits of a young species. Within a year of the creation of the clockwork men, the Reyans committed mass suicide so as not to suffer through the affects of a dying planet, leaving their greatest creations behind, alone, and lost. Over time the clockwork creations of the Reyans developed a simple society of their own and began exploiting the technologies left behind by their creators. All was well for the young civilization of machines until one day a large Endless ship crashed into the planet spreading the dust it was transporting all over the surface. The dust modified the machines, gave them enhanced abilities and over time even sentience. The deadly and toxic fuel that used to power the machines was also replaced, but strangely the new fuel became dust. In only a few weeks, the clockwork machines had evolved, become truly sentient, and gained new purpose in existence which was unheard of in even the most advanced AI’s created by the Endless. They came to call themselves, the Automatons and with the newly gained freedom of dust they began learning…and advancing. '' ''The Automaton Civilization stayed on their planet, learning to live in a symbiotic relationship with nature as the planet healed over time. They used the knowledge of their creators and their new dust engines to produce massive floating ships on which they lived in order to protect the healing ecosystem on the planet from their involvement. Over the course of centuries the planet healed and the Automatons learned to live with and love nature while still developing immense industrial capacity and production within the hulls of their floating ships --which had also grown over time. But eventually the Automatons calculated that their dust supply would run out and their civilization would die, so they uncovered the old ruins of the crashed endless ship and began developing their own vehicles for space flight.." Traits Cravers * Planet Type: Arid *Diplomatic Alignment: Evil *Gameplay: Consume Worlds *Main Victory Type: Military Description "Created by the Endless from an insectoid life form, the Cravers are in the purest sense hunter-gatherers and would never have evolved on their own the processes necessary to raise crops or domesticate animals. Their life cycle is based on consumption, and as such they are capable of digesting any form of plant or animal matter. Once their home world was consumed, they left to seek further nourishment. If they do not continue to expand, discover, and exploit new worlds, their society could literally eat itself to death. Feeding the hive is their all-consuming purpose; the notions of 'treaty', 'trade', and 'peace' do not exist." Traits Hissho *Home Planet Type: Jungle *Diplomatic Alignment: Evil *Gameplay: Conquest & Glory *Main Victory Type: Military / Population Description "The Hissho are a modern and civilized people descended from avian DNA. However, they are avian in the way that many species of dinosaur had avian characteristics; in fact, they are not unlike feathered pterodactyls. A race of highly competitive tribal warriors, their history is one of bloodshed, conquest, vengeance and domination. While this has created a very hardy, aggressive, and dangerous people, it has also slowed their advancement and limited their numbers. When they did reach the stars to find other peoples waiting for them, their reaction was to conquer and dominate. Their innate and learned sense of flight makes them superior pilots." Traits Horatio *Home Planet Type: Arid *Diplomatic Alignment: Neutral *Gameplay: Expand *Main Victory Type: Population / Wonder Description "Incredibly wealthy and only slightly less deranged, Horatio was an Imperial trillionare who left to discover his own star cluster. Finding a planet sprinkled with labs of ancient cloning technology left by the Endless, the boredom soon drove Horatio to create a race of allies, servants, and slaves who were every bit as gorgeous as the most beautiful person in the universe -- Horatio. Once the planet was repopulated, Horatio the First had only to look up, regard the stars and realize how much more beautiful they, too, would be if they were filled with... Horatios. The rest, as they say, is history." Traits Pilgrims * Home Planet Type: Jungle * Diplomatic Alignment: Good * Gameplay: Exploration, Diplomacy * Main Victory Type: Diplomatic/Military Description "A group of scientists and explorers, unhappy with the United Empire, hijacked a mission to an outer planet and set up an independent government. They refused the heavy corporate hand of the Empire, preferring to eke out their living on the edge of known space. Aided by the Sophons, this splinter group grew to become the Pilgrims. Accustomed to orbital living and constant movement, during the early years of their development they had a proportionally greater contact and familiarity with artifacts and remnants left by the Endless. They have come to view the Endless in a religious light, and a goal of their society is to one day discover the planet from which the Endless originated." Traits Sheredyn * Planet Type: Terran *Diplomatic Alignment: Evil *Gameplay: Colonialist *Main Victory Type: Economic / Military Description "It would require several centuries of time travel to find the origins of the military organization now known as the Sheredyn Fleet. Originally a bodyguard at the time of the first emperors, over time the Fleet grew to become commandos, special forces operatives, and finally a powerful clandestine force within the military of the United Empire. Almost a caste within the Imperial Navy, admission to the service of the Sheredyn Fleet remains impossible to all but the most qualified candidates. In a society where money means everything, the Fleet retains its image of professionalism. With several lucrative contracts from appreciative emperors, it has grown to have an economic power almost equal to its military reputation." Traits Sophons *Home Planet Type: Terran *Diplomatic Alignment: Good *Gameplay: Amazing Scientists *Main Victory Type: Scientific Description "Curious, analytical and inquisitive, the Sophons are a people who pride knowledge over all. No theory -- or machine -- is so perfect that it can resist a bit of tinkering: advances come both in great leaps and tiny increments. The Sophons travel the galaxy driven by a thirst to discover and understand. As such, they view war as nothing more than a distraction from the serious things in life. However, with their advanced technologies, they can become a surprisingly dangerous foe." Traits Sowers * Planet Type: Tundra * Diplomatic Alignment: Neutral * Gameplay: Construction * Main Victory Type: Wonder/Military Description "The Sowers are a machine race created by the Virtual faction of the Endless. They took from their creators the mission to traverse the universe and make worlds livable and habitable for the arrival – or return – of the Endless. The Sowers come, establish industries, create the basic infrastructure needed to make a wild planet habitable, and move on to the next one. The Sowers are neither hostile nor friendly; they are simply continuing their programming. Any world they arrive on will be harvested and advanced materials will be developed. Any local populations or other peoples will be ignored -- unless they get in the way or oppose the Sowers' holy mission." Traits United Empire United Empire is one of the 8 factions available in Endless Space and arguably the primary human faction. Ruthless but efficient, it skilled in both commerce and combat. *Home Planet Type: Terran *Diplomatic Alignment: Evil *Gameplay: Colonialist *Main Victory Type: Economic / Military Description "The Empire is theoretically under the control of a central monarchy. However, the rate of expansion means that the society cannot be ruled that way effectively. In fact, the systems of the colonial diaspora are colonized by the designated Corporations who work hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Investment and Development. The Ministry of Security is involoved as well, due to the need for native and/or alien pacification, security forces, defense or surveillance." Society Technically, the United Empire is a monarchy ruled by Emperor Maximilian Zelevas. However, while the emperor manages the overall direction of the UE, the day-to-day management of star systems is left to various powerful corporations. Designated by the Empire to manage certain systems, these companies work hand in hand with the Imperial bureaucracy but are also left to pursue their own profit. While the UE's policies are staunchly pro-business, relatively little value is placed on human rights or lives. In addition, the emperor has little tolerance for dissent, real or percieved. When an HR manager published an essay that argued that the empire's use of slavery was both inhumane and inefficient, the UE and its corporations saw this as oppositional and tried to arrest her. Military In contrast to how the various star systems of the UE are managed, the empire's armed forces appear to be centralized within the Ministry of Security. The space navy it maintains is less advanced than those of some of the older factions, but the ships are still durable and powerful. As with other factions, little is known about their use of ground combat. Traits Custom Factions The game allows for the creation of custom factions based on the main factions included in the game. The custom factions are accessed on the faction selection screen before starting a new game. On the right side of the screen you will see, add, modify, or delete buttons. Clicking on the "add" button will bring you to the faction editor screen. The first few options will let you name your race, as well as add a custom discription to be displayed in game. There is also a drop down menu that allows you to pick an "affinity" based on the pre-made factions. NOTE - The affinity that is selected for your custom faction will determine the image shown, as well as the style of your ships. For example, a custom faction with the Sophon affinity will have the Sophon starships and the Sophon display picture. It also determines what your faction unique researches are. This means choosing Amoeba Affinty and taking the Endless War Trait is a very bad idea. The last part of the faction editor is the traits selection. There are multiple positive and negative traits. Each trait has a point value along with a level value. There is a point cap of 65 (60 for the Amoeba affinity). Each trait you select will add or subtract points. You will not be allowed to save your faction if it is over the point cap. Most traits have multiple level which increase their effectiveness. Optimistic 1 increases approval by 10 on a system and costs 6 points, while optimistic 2 increases approval by 20 and costs 15 points. Trait Categories Defense (ability to protect a system) Technology (pre-researched tecnology) Anomaly (home planet conditions) Hero (effectivness of heros) Fleet (effectivness of fleet) Science (ability to research) Economy (ability to produce dust) Population (ability to populate) Building (effectivness of construction) Space Battle (effectivness of combat) Diplomacy (relationship traits) Each category has multiple positive and negative traits with varying levels and costs. Category:Factions